Items

See Also

Introduction

Podcasting is the distribution of media files using web based
syndication to hand-held devices. This presentation outlines how podcasting
works and could be used in Network Centric Warfare. The possible use of
podcasting with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, Wedgetail Airborne Early
Warning & Control aircraft and Landing Helicopter Dock Ship will be
discussed.

About the Speaker

Tom is an Information Technology consultant with 20 years experience in the ICT industry in Australia. He is a Visiting Fellow in the Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology at the Australian National University. Tom is a former IT advisor at Headquarters Australian Defence Force. He is a past President of the Australian Computer Society, Fellow and Honorary Life Member.

It is now six years since I left the Department of Defence. Much of my nine years there involved ways to adapt readily available and cost effective information technology for defence purposes. Recently, Air Commodore John Harvey (Director General NACC) and Dr Bruce Brown toured Australian Universities inviting participation in the Joint Strike Fighter Project.

To help my research colleagues, who are unfamiliar with defence projects, I prepared a web page about the JSF project and suggested some current IT research which could be applied. However, I only know of one research proposal which has been prepared as a result of the recent invitation. So to show how relatively simple IT could assist the project, I have prepared this example on podcasting.

F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter Program

The Australian Government is looking to replace the Royal Australian Air Force's F/A-18 Hornet and F-111 military fighter aircraft with the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). In 2002 joined the System Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase of the JSF program. This allows Australian industry to compete for JSF work, and also Australian researchers to assist in the project.

The aircraft will conduct net centric operations, using information fusion, with features such as a wide screen 8 by 20 inch cockpit display. Radios on the F-35 can be software programmed to provide a wide range of communications capabilities (including Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System - SINCGARS, HAVE QUICK and JPALS).

JSF Part of a System

More so than previous aircraft, the F-35 is intended to be part of a system. This allows for areas of research by companies, research organizations and universities beyond those previously involved in aerospace and defence applications. In particular the JSF project has a high information technology component, with its integrated sensor suite for fused situational awareness. The integration of the F-35 into a Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C4I) will require research in a number of disciplines.

The US version of the F-35 is intended to use Link-16 protocols to communicate with other aircraft and Air Defense Assets, satellites for Beyond Line of Sight communication, PHM Datalinks to ships, and the Joint Variable Message Format (JVMF), Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS), to army land elements.

... the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is merely the tip of the
iceberg. Indeed, it is misleading to consider the JSF in isolation from other air capabilities, notably airborne early warning and control aircraft (AEW&C), the Jindalee
Over-The-Horizon system, air-to-air refuelling platforms, unmanned aerial vehicles
(UAVs) and the network of forward-operating bases situated across northern Australia.

Network Centric Warfare

"On the surface, Network Centric Warfare (NCW) is a simple concept that
involves the linkage of engagement systems to sensors through networks
and the sharing of information between force elements. Consequently,
much of the discussion and early development of the concept revolved
around connecting information systems and creating software applications
that allow people to use the available data. However, NCW is also based
on the idea that information is only useful if it allows people to act
more effectively: this makes the human dimension fundamental to NCW."

JSF and Wedgetail AEW&C Aircraft

Boeing Wedgetail

A major task for Australia will be to integrate the F-35 to the new Boeing Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) aircraft.

The Boeing Wedgetail is an aircraft designed in response to Australia's RFP to vendors for an Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) aircraft (and supporting segments) for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). In 1997, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems was awarded a contract to supply four AEW&C aircraft (whose design is based on the 737-700IGW), with Australia having the option to increase the order by three additional aircraft. ...

The aircraft uses the Northrop Grumman Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) radar and control systems. ... The cabin features eight operator consoles with sufficient space for four more; the Australian fleet will operate ten consoles with space for two more.

Australia has not made a decision as to which variant of the F-35 to purchase. In the past Australia has purchased longer range US carrier aircraft for land use, suggesting the F-35C. The design of the F-35C was changed, further extending its range.

One recent change to the CV aircraft was an increase in wing size to
reduce carrier recovery speed. This and other changes to increase fuel
capacity and reduce drag pushed the F-35C's radius of action close to
1,300km (700nm) - "100nm more than the requirement" ...

However, the Australian Defence Force is planning to have the first of two LDH ships in-service by 2012, at around the same time as the F-35. These ships look to the lay person like small aircraft carriers. While no decision has been made, these ships could be equipped to operate the Vertical Takeoff, Short Landing (V/STOL) F-35B version of the Joint Strike Fighter. The July 2003 Australian Defence Capability Brief discusses the suitability of the F-35 for carrier based operation.

Possible Research Areas

Australian universities and research organizations have the opportunity to participate in the JSF Project through the Australian Department of Defence managed project team. Defence staff have been briefing Australian universities on JSF participation during July 2006.

Podcasting for Network Centric Warfare

An example of the use of available IT would be to transmit radar and images from the F-35, to the Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) aircraft, Landing Helicopter Dock Ships and personnel on the ground. In the situation envisaged by F-35 designers, the aircraft would be tightly integrated with communications links to other aircraft and forces.

However, the F-35 may not have the needed communications, at least in the initial version and other Australian forces may not have compatible links or terminals. Also this hi-tech approach may not be suitable where the forces on the ground are civilian aid workers, or other nations peacekeepers, who cannot be equipped with specialized terminals.

The radar and other sensors on the F-35 will be capable of producing data at a far higher rate than can be transmitted by the digital radios on the aircraft. As an example tests indicate a 72 MB synthetic aperture radar image will take 48 minutes to transmit over the Link 16 connection at 26.88 kilobits per second.

In the conventional scenario, the F-35 would transmit data in real time to a headquarters, then that data would then be sent to the personnel on the ground. However, this assumes the F-35 is within line-of-sight to a receiving system, or has a working satellite link. It also assumes the personnel on the ground have the equipment to receive the information, can be cleared to use it and can afford to purchase it.

An alternative would be for the F-35 to be equipped with its own data processing and distribution system. Authorized stations within range could request a catalog of information available and download it as required. Stations could be on the Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) aircraft, the Landing Helicopter Dock Ships and personnel on the ground with hand-held terminals. Civilian personnel and those from other nations may use ruggedized commercial equipment, such as smart phones, and receive limited amounts of lower resolution information.

A system could be built from the ground up using military protocols and software, it would be a slow and expensive process. An alternative would be to use existing podcasting and web technology. Free open source software would allow low cost commercial equipment to be issued to those users who could not be authorized to use, or could not afford to buy, specialized military equipment.

Scenario 1: Air to Ground

Personnel on the ground activate the GPS function of their hand-held terminal and request surveillance data on that location. The next time a F-35 is in range, a list of available data is sent to the terminal. The terminal selects data the operator's location and requests a download. The terminal display the data.

Scenario 2: Air to Air

A Wedgetail operator has requested surface data on a particular area. The Wedgetail system automatically interrogates an F-35 in the area and finds it has SAR data. Bandwidth is limited so the Wedgetail only requests the small segment of data applicable to the request. This data in fused with the Wedgetail's own radar display for the operator.

Scenario 3: Air to Ship

Headquarters staff aboard the Landing Helicopter Dock Ship are planning a resupply by sea. The operator requests the system provide the latest images of two possible landing sites. During the final mission briefing an F-35 over flies one site, and the briefing display on ship is updated a few seconds later, showing the wharf has been destroyed at that site. The mission is immediately re-tasked to the other site.

Podcasting

BlackBerry SmartPhone

Podcasting is the distribution of audio or video files, such
as radio programs or music videos, over the Internet using either
RSS or Atom syndication for listening on mobile devices and
personal computers. The term podcast, like "radio", can
mean both the content and the method of delivery. Podcasters'
websites also may offer direct download of their files, but the
subscription feed of automatically delivered new content is what
distinguishes a podcast from a simple download or real-time
streaming (see below). Usually, the podcast features one type of
"show" with new episodes either sporadically or at
planned intervals such as daily, weekly, etc. In addition to
this, there are podcast networks that feature multiple shows on
the same feed.

The term "podcast" came from the
iPod produced by Apple
Computer, but applies to other portable digital media players. It
also applies to playing the audio files with a personal computer,
without the use of a portable device. It also applies to devices which can play video files. The term has more loosely been applied to any downloading of audio or video files to a computer, but in this document applies only to automated download.

Preparing Content

The media files for podcasting are usually thought of as being
music, but can be any audio or video, including spoken word books. In the military context, the podcast could contain digitized radar images, maps, briefings or orders. A podcast can contain binary data, formatted messages, map coordinates and word processing documents as well as audio and video.

... a lecturer starts the DLD application on the Windows PC in
the teaching venue and accepts or changes some information
(course code, lecture name) that is automatically retrieved from
the ANU central timetable system, then starts recording using the
microphone in the teaching venue and at the end of the lecture,
stops the recording process. That's it.

An mp3 recording is saved on the teaching venue PC behind the
scenes. Some short time after the lecture, the mp3 is
automatically transferred to a processing server ...

Podcast content is prepared as other digital content. For
music a sophisticated recording studio and complex post processing
may be used. For spoken word a microphone and PC will do. For military purposes, the content may need to be converted to a format compatible with the display device and the file made small enough for the available commutations channel. It should be noted that with the content already available, a simple conversion may be all that is required. As an example digital audio of a briefing could be recorded and sent along with accompaning Power Point slides.

Podcasting Feeds

Once the digital audio, video and other data is prepared, Podcasting uses RSS or Atom syndication, popularized with blogs (web logs) to distribute
content. The syndication uses small XML
files which provide an automated catalog of material available using standardized metadata elements.
The user can subscribe to an RSS (or ATOM) "feed" and
then receive podcasts automatically to their PC. The data downloaded to the PC can then be automatically loaded into an iPod or similar hand held player. A hand-held device with a wireless Internet connection, such as a PDA or smart phone, can combine the functions of the PC receiving the podcast and the portable player. In the military context a hand-held terminal can be used.

An example is the RSS2 feed for Radio National's "All
in the Mind" program. The URL for the feed is http://www.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/feeds/mind.xml.
The file starts with a comment to identify it for those who see the
raw file (it is intended to be read by an RSS reader, not a web
browser. There is then a heading to identify the feed:

<rss version="2.0">
-
<channel>
<title>All in the Mind</title>
-
<description>
All In The Mind is Radio National's weekly foray into the
mental universe, the mind, brain and behaviour - everything from
addiction to artificial intelligence.
</description>
<link>http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/mind/</link>
<copyright>Australian Broadcasting
Corporation</copyright>
<language>en</language>
<itunes:author>ABC Radio
National</itunes:author>
-
<itunes:summary>
All In The Mind is Radio National's weekly foray into the
mental universe, the mind, brain and behaviour - everything from
addiction to artificial intelligence.
</itunes:summary>
<itunes:link rel="image" type="video/jpeg"
href="http://www.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/feeds/mind.jpg">All
in the Mind</itunes:link>
<itunes:category text="Science"/>
<itunes:category text="Health"/>
<itunes:category text="Public Radio"/>
<itunes:category text="Australian"/>

Each Item in the Feed

Each item in the feed is then described:

<item>
<title>2006-03-25 The starving brain</title>
-
<description>
SUMMARY: The pressure to be thin is more intense than ever
&#150; and with around 80% of teenage girls choosing to diet
&#150; some slide down the slippery slope into anorexia
nervosa. While our knowledge of this puzzling disorder is still
limited, some inroads of understanding are being made into what
occurs in the starving brain. In this week's program we hear
some of the latest scientific research into the mechanisms of
anorexia, and a young woman who's on the path to recovery
gives a moving insight into what she's been through.
</description>
-
<link>http://www.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/feeds/mind_20060325.mp3</link>
<pubDate>Sat, 25 Mar 2006 00:00:00
+1000</pubDate>
<enclosure
url="http://www.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/feeds/mind_20060325.mp3"
length="14476330"
type="audio/mpeg"/>
-
<guid>
2006-03-25 The starving brain - Sat, 25 Mar 2006 00:00:00
+1000
</guid>
<itunes:author>ABC Radio
National</itunes:author>
-
<itunes:summary>
SUMMARY: The pressure to be thin is more intense than ever
&#150; and with around 80% of teenage girls choosing to diet
&#150; some slide down the slippery slope into anorexia
nervosa. While our knowledge of this puzzling disorder is still
limited, some inroads of understanding are being made into what
occurs in the starving brain. In this week's program we hear
some of the latest scientific research into the mechanisms of
anorexia, and a young woman who's on the path to recovery
gives a moving insight into what she's been through.
</itunes:summary>
<itunes:duration>0:30:08</itunes:duration>
</item>

It should be noted that the RSS file does not contain the actual
digital audio, just a reference to it (metadata). This makes for a small file.

ATOM Syndication Format

The RSS format was originally defined for distributing text based news items ("Blogs"). This was then adapted for podcasting music. Apple defined their own additional (non-standard) elements. Even with these additional fields, the feed format does not suit non-entertainment applications. As an example the text of ABC talk radio items is included in the "Lyrics" element. The Atom format was created to be more flexible than RSS.

The ATOM Syndication Format was defined to provide a more standard and flexible format than RSS. The Atom format is defined in IETF RFC4287 (December 2005). It uses XML standard definitions and so can be more easily incorporated in web based systems than RSS. Particularly relevant for military use is Atom's provision for XML digital signatures to authenticate the content and encryption to protect it.

Atom allows Extension Elements to add extra details to the feed. In addition as it is an XML format, other XML markup may be included in Atom. This allows extra detail to be included. Standard Atom software may ignore the additional content. As an example this would allow location data (longitude and latitude) of radar images to be included in a feed. Specially designed feed software could read the location and decided if to download the radar image. Standard Atom software would ignore the location and download the radar image regardless.

ATOM Publishing Protocol

The ATOM Publishing Protocol (June 23, 2006) is a proposed companion standard to the ATOM Syndication Format. In its most basic form a news feed is simply a document on the web which must be checked regularly by the user's client software to find updates. APP provides a more active way to interrogate the news source and obtain new items.

APP is not yet a standard and there may be changes to it. Also it does not use the available Web Services protocol, which might be better for specific applications. Google have their own variation of APP called gData.

Fitting Podcasting with Existing Military Standards

While podcasting would be relatively simple to implement for military purposes, the difficult task would be integrating this with existing military IT standards. However, new military standards are evolving, such as the NATO C3 Technical Architecture.

Role of Ontologies

NATO suggests adopting RDF (Resource Description Framework) and ontoltogies. These XML based web standards offer the prospect of intelligent documents which would allow reasoning from the data. However, exactly how these can be used in real systems, and how much they offer over traditional databases is not yet clear.

... A prerequisite for widespread use of
ontologies is a joint standard for their description and exchange.
RDF(S) (Resource Description Framework Schema) ... ontology
representation language that emerged from work under DARPA's Agent
Markup Language (DAML) initiative ...OWL-S provides "a core set of markup
language constructs for describing the properties and capabilities of
Web services in unambiguous, computer-intepretable form."

F-35 UAV?

P-38 Lightning

The F-35 is not particularly suited to network centric warfare, being a conventionally piloted fighter aircraft (in the spirit of its namesake the Lockheed P-38 Lightning of World War 2). The F-35's pilot, weapons and sensors are all on the one airframe and cannot be deployed separately. A network centric warfare design would use separate aircraft for the pilot, weapons and sensors. Some studies of unmanned derivatives of the F-35 have been carried out.

Lockheed Martin has taken the wraps off studies of unmanned derivatives of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) as it mounts a concerted campaign to establish itself in the unmanned systems market. Concepts studied by Lockheed's Skunk Works include both optionally piloted and dedicated unmanned versions of the JSF. ...

To reduce cost, Lockheed has developed a concept of operations in which four unmanned JSFs would be controlled by two manned F-35s, or F-22s, sharing sensor information via an airborne datalink. This would allow the sensors to be removed from the unmanned F-35s, which would be used as weapon carriers, reducing cost to about 72% that of the manned aircraft - "30-35% of the cost is in the sensors" ...

The Atom protocols are capable of running on a small computer platform. As an example podcasting could be done from a small UAV, or a pocket size manually deployed sensor. Low cost devices could use RFID and Smart network technology.

Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration

Some of these capabilities are demonstrated at CWID events (Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration).

... CWID is the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff's annual event
enabling the COCOMs and international community to investigate command,
control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and
reconnaissance (C4ISR) solutions that focus on relevant and timely
objectives for enhancing coalition interoperability. U.S. Joint Forces
Command (USJFCOM), on behalf of the Chairman, is responsible for the
oversight of CWID.

The intent of CWID is to investigate C4ISR
technologies capable of being placed into an operational environment
within 12-18 months following the execution period. Interoperability
Trials include evaluations of hardware and/or software solutions. C/S/As
are highly encouraged to conduct further investigation into the tactics,
techniques, and procedures (TTP) using CWID as a vehicle. While the
focus of CWID is on new and emerging technologies, CWID is also an
appropriate venue for spiral development or validation of
fielded/near-fielded commercial and/or DoD systems when appropriate to
reduce fielding costs or transition timelines. The USJFCOM Capability
Development Process will be the primary method used to identify
candidate technologies that meet warfighter requirements.

Optional Piloted Surveillance and Reconnaissance System

Diamond DA42

An example of a flexible network centric warfare platform is the German built Diamond DA42 OPALE "Optional Piloted Surveillance and Reconnaissance System". This is a civilian twin engine light aircraft adapted for surveillance. It can be flow with, or without, a pilot and has a similar range to the F-35.

The OPALE system is represents a new generation in aerial sensor platform technology. Due to the fact that flying UAVs in controlled airspace is bound to civil aviation regulations, many applications are not
practicable at the time being. Being able to fly either piloted or unmanned OPALE offers solutions for a
broad spectrum of tasks e.g. reconnaissance, surveillance, border control, agricultural monitoring and more.